Wire hook for connecting conveyor bands, belts, and the like



Jan. 8, 1963 H. STOLZ 3,071,830

WIRE HOOK FOR CONNECTING CONVEYOR BANDS, BELTS, AND THE LIKE Filed April :5, 1961 Fig. I Fig. 3

1/1 venfor': Haw/401v 63-042 United States Patent Ofifice 3,071,830 Patented Jan. 8, 1963 3,071,830 WIRE HOOK FOR CONNECTING CONVEYOR BANDS, BELTS, AND THE LIKE Hermann Stoiz, Muhlheim (Main), Germany, assignor t Curt Matthaei, Offenbach (Main), Germany, a firm Filed Apr. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 100,398 2 Claims. (Cl. 24-33) This invention relates to V-shaped double wire staples or hooks for connecting parts of conveyor belts, bands, or the like, and is an improvement on the band connecting wire hooks which form the subject matter of the United States Patent No. 2,912,762, granted on an application filed by me and Heinrich Stolz on December 9, 1954. In this former patent we have described and claimed a double wire hook having two prongs and a cross wire bridging the far ends of these prongs in spaced'apart relationship, while the free ends of the prongs are pointed to penetrate the band and to be clenched over the cross wire to form a completely closed and interlocked double wire hook connection.

Although these belt connectors have proved satisfactory with certain kinds of conveyor and other belts, particularly such which were lined or inlaid with cotton material, they are not so satisfactory when applied to the more recent kinds of conveyor bands which are lined or inlaid with material made of textile yarn of either organic or inorganic origin. It has been found that with such material the wire hooks, without losing their closed formation, are apt to cut or slit these inlays in the direction of pull and to eventually tear away from the end edges of the belt.

Interconnected hooked sheet metal belt fasteners of a blunt V-shape are known in which both ends of the V-form are open and provided with large main prongs and small additional prongs adapted to be pressed into the material of the hand. These known fasteners engage in a comblike fashion and are connected to each other by a coupling pin consisting of two members with excavations provided therein for the reception of the blunt ends of the V-shapes. Although these hooks are interconnected into coherent strips, they have no cross members over which the prongs could be clenched and so the disadvantage prevails, that the limbs of the V open under strain and, besides, damage the material.

Also known is a shape of wire hooks consisting of juxtaposed single hooks, held together by a strip of paper, and alternately provided with short and long points which are pierced into the material. The points are sufliciently long to bend over in the material without, however, clenching each other. In this type of fastener the disadvantage also prevails that the limbs open under strain and damage the material of the band.

In accordance with the invention a double wire hook for connecting conveyor band ends and the like, is provided by the employment of which the aforesaid disadvantages are avoided.

One object of the invention, therefore, consists in the provision of a double wire hook of the said type in which means are provided by which the resistance to pull will be greatly increased while, at the same time, the risk of tearing the inlay material of the belt will be practically nullified.

Another object is the provision of a double anchorage sists in the provision of a double wire hook of the aforesaid type having additional prongs close to the main prongs at the free end of each wire, and an additional cross wire bridging the closed end of the double hook adjacent the end cross wire, the arrangement being such as to provide a second closed and interlocked hook connection in addition to the first connection by the closed and interlocked main prongs and the end cross wire. If more than one double hook is used, it is convenient to extend the additional cross wire in known manner over all the hooks so as to provide a coherent strip of fasteners and to thereby increase their hold on the band.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one embodiment of the invention by way of example and purely diagrammatically. In these drawings,

FIG. 1 shows a side view of the double wire hook in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a strip of books,

FIG. 3 is a vertical section through a conveyor belt connection in accordance with the invention, and

FIG. 4 a plan view of FIG. 3.

As shown in these drawings the conveyor belt connection consists of the two ends 1 and 2 of the belt and the coupling pin 3 which passes through the alternating terminal eyes of the adjacent wire hooks 4 and 5.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 the individual V-shaped wire hooks are shown to be in the form of double hooks of which the limbs 11 are connected to each other, apart from their end cross bar, by means of an additional cross wire 12 which may be welded or otherwise fixed thereto. The cross wire 12 is preferably made to stretch across a strip carrying a plurality of adjacent double hooks. The limbs 13 extend at their free ends into the prongs 14 which, on being pressed through the material of the band, are clenched over the end cross wire as described in my aforesaid former patent, so as to form a closed eye of each of the hooks.

According to the invention and as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings, the limbs 13, forming the free ends of the hooks, are provided with additional prongs 16 for cooperation with the additional cross bar 12 at the closed end of the double hook, over which they are clenched while or after piercing the material of the band.

What I claim is:

1. A double wire hook for connecting two ends of a conveyor band, comprising two wires of generally V-shape, said wires being spaced from each other and symmetrically disposed, a first cross wire bridging two juxtaposed ends of said wires in spaced-apart relationship, free ends of said wires forming first prongs, said first prongs being pointed and angled off toward the said first cross wire, a second cross wire bridging said wires and spaced from said first cross wire, a second pointed prong on the free end of each limb near the said first prong and angled ofi toward said second cross wire, said first and second pointed prongs being of a length suflicient to penetrate the material of the band and to be clenched over said first and second cross wire, respectively, thereby to form a doubly closed and interlocked wire hook.

2. A double wire hook according to claim 1, wherein said second cross wire extends over several of said double wire hooks.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,594,691 Purple Aug. 3, 1926 2,912,732 Stolz et al Nov. 17, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,093,695 France May 9, 1955 

1. A DOUBLE WIRE HOOK FOR CONNECTING TWO ENDS OF A CONVEYOR BAND, COMPRISING TWO WIRES OF GENERALLY V-SHAPE, SAID WIRES BEING SPACED FROM EACH OTHER AND SYMMETRICALLY DISPOSED, A FIRST CROSS WIRE BRIDGING TWO JUXTAPOSED ENDS OF SAID WIRES IN SPACED-APART RELATIONSHIP, FREE ENDS OF SAID WIRES FORMING FIRST PRONGS, SAID FIRST PRONGS BEING POINTED AND ANGLED OFF TOWARD THE SAID FIRST CROSS WIRE, A SECOND CROSS WIRE BRIDGING SAID WIRES AND SPACED FROM SAID FIRST CROSS WIRE, A SECOND POINTED PRONG ON THE FREE END OF EACH LIMB NEAR THE SAID FIRST PRONG AND ANGLED OFF TOWARD SAID SECOND CROSS WIRE, SAID FIRST AND SECOND POINTED PRONGS BEING OF A LENGTH SUFFICIENT TO PENETRATE THE MATERIAL OF THE BAND AND TO BE CLENCHED OVER SAID FIRST AND SECOND CROSS WIRE, RESPECTIVELY, THEREBY TO FORM A DOUBLY CLOSED AND INTERLOCKED WIRE HOOK. 